SAFE calls bull on feedlot spin

Animal advocacy group SAFE is
calling bull on the spin around feedlots and wants an end to
the practice in New Zealand.

Feedlots are a form of
intense agriculture in which cattle are confined in pens,
without grass and usually without any shelter, to feed them
up before slaughter. In New Zealand, cattle can be held in
these pens for months at a time.

New drone-footage
reveals the reality of feedlots already operating in New
Zealand – thousands of cattle, crammed into barren
paddocks.

The footage shows Five Star Beef in
Canterbury, the country’s biggest feedlot operation, which
can hold up to 19,000 cattle at a time.

“While the spin from the company marketing
this beef describes it as produced with a ‘unique
combination of nature and nurture’, the reality is a bare
wasteland and increasing Americanisation of the New Zealand
farming landscape. This is bad news for cattle and our
environment, and undermines our international
reputation.”

As shown in the video, there is no
shelter for the animals or grass to graze. The cattle are
moved here for up to 75 days - which is approximately 14 per
cent of their lifetime until they are slaughtered.

“For months the cattle are denied their natural
instinct to graze, which they would normally do for up to
eight hours a day. They are forced onto a diet of grain,
which can cause bloating and diarrhoea. They are also given
no shelter from harsh weather. These factors breach the
Animal Welfare Act and are totally unacceptable, especially
since it’s purely for profit.”

SAFE is calling
on Environment Minister, David Parker, to stop further
intensification of cattle farming; set a date to phase out
existing feedlots; tighten up loopholes that allow farmers
to operate unconsented feedlots; and ensure better
monitoring and enforcement is undertaken by local
Government.

“We’ve seen the damage from the
virulent spread of beef and dairy intensification as greedy
industries seek to cash-in on short-term gains. The cure is
clear-cut and it’s in the Minister’s power to
deliverAnimal advocacy group SAFE is calling bull on the
spin around feedlots and wants an end to the practice in New
Zealand.

Feedlots are a form of intense agriculture
in which cattle are confined in pens, without grass and
usually without any shelter, to feed them up before
slaughter. In New Zealand, cattle can be held in these pens
for months at a time.

New drone-footage reveals the
reality of feedlots already operating in New Zealand –
thousands of cattle, crammed into barren paddocks.

The footage shows Five Star Beef in Canterbury, the
country’s biggest feedlot operation, which can hold up to
19,000 cattle at a time.

“While the spin from the company marketing this beef
describes it as produced with a ‘unique combination of
nature and nurture’, the reality is a bare wasteland and
increasing Americanisation of the New Zealand farming
landscape. This is bad news for cattle and our environment,
and undermines our international reputation.”

As
shown in the video, there is no shelter for the animals or
grass to graze. The cattle are moved here for up to 75 days
- which is approximately 14 per cent of their lifetime until
they are slaughtered.

“For months the cattle are
denied their natural instinct to graze, which they would
normally do for up to eight hours a day. They are forced
onto a diet of grain, which can cause bloating and
diarrhoea. They are also given no shelter from harsh
weather. These factors breach the Animal Welfare Act and are
totally unacceptable, especially since it’s purely for
profit.”

SAFE is calling on Environment Minister,
David Parker, to stop further intensification of cattle
farming; set a date to phase out existing feedlots; tighten
up loopholes that allow farmers to operate unconsented
feedlots; and ensure better monitoring and enforcement is
undertaken by local Government.

“We’ve seen the
damage from the virulent spread of beef and dairy
intensification as greedy industries seek to cash-in on
short-term gains. The cure is clear-cut and it’s in the
Minister’s power to deliver it: make the use of feedlots a
prohibited activity, as he re-writes his new, stronger water
regulations.”

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